tom webster

That is actually contrary to the data. The mean height of NHL players has remained constant at 6’1” since the advent of the salary cap era. Further, teams with the taller defense are barely above .500 in playoff series wins.

According to sportrac, it’s essentially a 3 year, $30.1M deal.

Again with the facts….

People just have the wrong belief that the league continues to get bigger and bigger. The median weight of skaters continues to drop and the median height has stayed constant at 6’1” throughout the salary cap era. Florida plays a tough, gritty, hard nosed game but on average, they were the third lightest team in the playoffs ahead of only Tampa Bay and Colorado. Benson will be a star in this league but right now or he is fully capable of playing in the top six on a playoff team.

While I respect your opinion, to me it’s just an excuse.

I’m really surprised at how long this thread has lasted. Like you said, it’s a non-subject, it’s never going to be bargained away.

They still had a lot to say about who bought the team and the future plans of the team.

Rumor has it that TPEGS fought very hard to find owners that would keep the team in Rochester.

Don’t disagree with any of this but the great thing about sports, at least in my opinion, is when the unexpected happens. It’s why I said regression is likely, but it’s not a given.

I think they get a lot more scoring from third and fourth lines this year and while regression from McLeod is probably more likely, it’s also possible that he continues to improve with increased usage. I personally don’t see offense as a problem.

It’s not about being afraid it’s about analyzing the risks and prioritizing. I’m not disagreeing with you but the fact of the matter is about one third the league will spend at all costs, one third will spend in cycles and one third will have to be convinced. It’s really a fact throughout professional sports. Most owners don’t prioritize winning as much as their fan base does.

Everything you said about financial impact of such a move are true but none of it is guaranteed. If you could guarantee that such a move would result in increased attendance, increased success leading to increased revenue, everyone would do it. The reality is that half the league’s franchises operate within some kind of budget which leads to similar cost/benefit analysis which has led to a similar haves/ have nots league we saw before the salary cap.

The league is getting smaller and teams with the bigger defense were 5-7 in the first two rounds of the playoffs. I don’t post other peoples work but I can point you in the right direction if you’d like to read for yourself.

Polian’s biggest issue was a disregard for Wilson’s daughter who was a scout at the time. John Butler took over after Polian and spent like a drunken sailor so I don’t think Littman was as big an issue at that time. Knox left over finances, I don’t believe that was an issue with Polian but I wasn’t that dialed in during those years.

Polian didn’t have to worry about the salary cap. I realize how easily the cap can be manipulated but it’s still a factor.

There is no denying that but I think people would be surprised that the median weight of the NHL skaters has dropped dramatically since 2014 while the average height has stayed pretty much the same.

The problem with all that size is that the NHL is actually getting smaller, especially on defense. Florida was the third lightest team in the playoffs this year and only Tampa has won a cup recently with a heavy defense.

I don’t think anyone expects Doan to replace JJP. Benson, Quinn and Kulich will be expected to replace the offense. Doan brings something completely different.

You keep saying this and you are right as long as all your assumptions are right. However, if they don’t share your opinion of the value of JBD, Bryson and Timmins, then none of it is really correlated. You may be right, they may be wrong, but I see no correlation between walking away from JBD because they didn’t want to pay what they thought he might get in arbitration while being willing to pay Timmins close to what he was going to command in arbitration. And for the record, I would have kept JBD over Bryson but I really can’t get worked up about out 7th, 8th or 9th defenseman

Vancouver didn’t have high regard for Michael Peca when they included him in the Mogilny deal.

I’m not sure anyone considers the hockey news a major publication anymore but two things; 1) I didn’t say it was universally accepted 2) it’s no coincidence that old school hockey people don’t like the Sabres approach.

Good catch. Valid point.

A) it’s not uncommon for big holding companies to focus on problem areas of their business B) The Shanahan stuff has been deemed hogwash by most reputable sources C) The doom and gloom is not universally shared and some national publications list Buffalo in the more improved and fringe playoff range. D) Most of these media pundits have an agenda E) The league’s bigger problem is the divide between the halves and halves nots which they try and hide with their silly points system.

If they can only get all these frequently injured guys to get injured at different times they might have something here.

I think there is more to it than that. The top teams were able to keep their guys or add because of the riding cap and other teams smartly decided against spending money just to spend money. The movement of the cap is going to result in the most “have” and “have not” era of the NHL since the cap was implemented. I’d have to do a little research but I’ll bet since the pandemic the same twelve to thirteen teams have made the playoffs every year and the rising cap along with players stupidly signing long term contracts will allow this model to sustain itself for at least two more years.